We are proposing to establish a Center for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Strategies in Pancreatic Cancer (CDTSPC) in North Dakota State University (NDSU). The Center will conduct fundamental and translational studies devoted to the detection and control of pancreatic cancer at cellular and animal model levels. The goals of this Center are to develop self-sustaining research programs by junior investigators, to increase the number of NIH-funded research grants, to enhance the infrastructure of NDSU to promote biomedical research, and to expand the University's capability to establish the disease specific program particularly on pancreatic cancer. The Administrative Core of the Center will facilitate and ensure that all the components of the Center are functioning efficiently and successfully. The long-term objective of this proposal is to create a flourishing, self- sustaining and internationally-visible center at NDSU for advanced research (fundamental as well as translational) on pancreatic cancer. The proposed center is designed to strengthen the academic roadmaps and strategic plans for the College of Pharmacy, Nursing, and Allied Sciences and the College of Science and Mathematics. These goals will be accomplished through the following Specific Aims. (1) Efficiently and Successfully Direct the Administrative Core. The Administrative Core will provide research support to the junior investigators, and ensure that they have access to the Core Facilities and equipment needed to make rapid progress. The junior investigators will be mentored for cloning, expression and purification of recombinant proteins needed for the proposed projects by the Co-Director, Dr. D. K. Srivastava. The junior investigators will also be provided with training workshops on responsible conduct of research, grant writing, manuscript writing, efficient financial/ personnel management, leadership skills, and career-family balance. We anticipate that these endeavors will cumulatively lead to publications in high impact journals and facilitate the transition of the supported junior investigators to externally funded independent investigators. The Center will conduct formative and summative evaluations of the Administrative Core, junior investigators, the proposed Animal Core Facility, and the mentoring/career development plans. Any weakness noted in these evaluations and other recommendations will be promptly implemented to ensure progress and success of the Center in gaining a self-sustaining status. (2) Develop and implement a result-oriented, tailored Mentoring/Career Development Plan for accelerating the transition of the junior investigators to independently funded investigators. Each junior investigator will have an internal, an external mentor and a tailored mentoring plan for successful graduation to the independent investigator status. The Mentors will provide guidance to junior investigators regarding navigating research problems, future research directions, organization and presentation of manuscripts for high-impact journals, and provide effective strategies for writing successful proposals. The Mentoring/Career Development Plan will be assessed by formative and summative evaluation strategies. (3) Increase the number of biomedical researchers on NDSU campus. This goal will be accomplished by recruiting 4 Pilot Project investigators, 4 Postdoctoral Associates, 2 technicians, 6 graduate and 4 undergraduate students. In addition, NDSU Provost has committed two new tenure-track faculty positions for the proposed Center. We will recruit the faculty during the first and third years to ensure continued growth of the proposed center. As the junior investigators graduate to the independent investigator status, the PIs for the Pilot Project will gain junior investigator status. We will then include new Pilot Projects through a competitive process. (4) Attain a self-sustaining status for the proposed Center. The Director, Co-Director and junior investigators will compete for Institutional Training Grants (T32), Core Grants (P30), Infrastructure Development Grant (R24), and most importantly, Research Project Grants (R01) from NIH and other grants from other funding agencies (federal and non-federal). In order to expand research opportunities, the center will actively collaborate with regional and national institutions focused on pancreatic cancer research.